The Joke Shop
by WiseGryffindor
Summary: Fred Weasley wants to open a joke shop, but his family wants him to get a respectable job at the ministry. What will he do?


**(plot point) disowning someone or being disowned **

**(character) Fred Weasley **

**(colour) royal purple **

**"Don't Stop Me Now"**

**AU where Goerge died instead of Fred. They did not start their shop, they were waiting until after the war.**

"Fred Fabian Weasley! You will do no such thing starting a joke shop! You will get a respectable job at the ministry or never come back to this house ever again!" Molly Weasley shouted at her only twin.

"I will open a joke shop to honour him. My best friend, my brother, my twin!" Fred shouted back. "Fine, I'm going and not coming back." Fred took one last look at his mother and walked out of his childhood home.

"You do that!" Molly shouted at her sons back.

With the telltale crack of apparition, Fred Weasley left his family behind. The house fell silent, everyone was gone and Molly was the only person in her sprawling family still home. Behind her, Molly heard a quiet thud, she turned on her heal searching for the disturbance. On the ground in her family room was Fred's hand on the family clock. This could only mean one of two things: Fred was dead, or he had been disowned by the family magic, and by extension—her. But he couldn't be dead, she had just seen him, but him being disowned didn't make any sense.

She didn't do anything? Did she?

Fred felt it the moment the family magic disowned him, it was odd. Family magic was something that not much was known about. When a woman is married into a family, her family magic was bound so she could accept the new family's magic. He would have to do some research about how it would affect him.

He wasn't the only one to feel when he was disowned, Arthur, Percy, Charlie, Bill, and Ron all felt it too. They didn't know what it was, just that something had changed, something big.

Hermione didn't even know what had happened until she saw Fred at a muggle joke shop. He was standing outside the shop staring at it in wonder. His mouth was slightly open, his hair dishevelled, and his royal purple shirt was dirty.

"Fred, what are you doing here? What happened with your family?" Hermione asked so quickly he almost didn't hear her.

"Mom and I got in a fight, and, well, the family magic disowned me." A tear rolled down Fred's cheek.

"Why don't you come stay with me and we'll sort this all out." Hermione offered. With a bit of reluctance, he accepted her offer.

**1 Year Later**

"Fred Weasly! Get down here!" Hermione shouted at her boyfriend who was flying his _flying death trap_ as she called it.

"I'm **on a collision course**!" He shouted back.

"No, you are not! Get down here!" Hermione shouted. Fred was flying high above her doing dangerous stunts and tricks. She tightly closed her eyes to avoid the sight of Fred hanging from his fingertips. A lot had changed in the past year, Hermione slowly became distant from the Weasleys and Harry. Instead, most of her time was spent with Fred, helping him set up his shop. It was painted orange and royal purple. Hermione thought they clashed horribly, but Fred said that royal purple was George's favourite colour.

Fred was better now. Right after the war and being disowned by his family, he felt lost, but Hermione pulled him out of his funk. She told him that he had to live his life for George, to make him proud. The name of his joke shop was Weasleys Wizard Wheezes, underneath was a byline with; _In Memory of George Weasley_. New products came out every month, sometimes only one, sometimes multiple. Fred loved inventing products, but he remembered how George loved seeing the awe in peoples eyes when they saw a product work. It was this that drove him to spend as much time on the shop floor as in his 'inventing room'.

Life was good for Fred until a curveball was thrown his way. His mother was in his shop. His mother who told him not to do this, to get a respectable job at the ministry. He didn't know what to do, so he continued like normal. This worked for about a minute until Molly went up to him and started talking.

"Fred, I have missed you so, so much! How have you been?" Molly said.

"How have I been! I was devastated, my family disowned me and my twin is gone! You can't just waltz back into my life like nothing happened1" He was getting louder with every word.

Hermione appeared from a storage room behind him. She wrapped her hands around his arm and pulled him away from his mother. Fred took a moment to stare at Hermione, wearing the royal purple and orange robes she hated so much.

"What is going on? Fred, you can talk to me," Hermione said quietly.

"She came back and acted like she never betrayed me and left me out to dry," Fred whisper-yelled.

"Fred, don't let her stop you from being you and from doing what you want to do with your life," Hermione said. Gently she gave Fred an affectionate kiss. With a purpose, Fred walked back over to his mother.

"Don't stop me now. Don't stop me from doing what I want, from doing what I want to do with my life, let me be me," Fred said almost repeating exactly what Hermione had told him.

"I didn't come to criticize you, I came to apologize." Molly's figure slumped. "I made a mistake all those years ago, I knew I had the second the argument started, I just didn't know what to do. Please just give me a chance?" Molly pleaded with her estranged son.

Fred was frozen for a moment, then his head slowly bopped up and down. Molly jumped and wrapping him in a smothering hug.

"But on one condition," Fred started struggling to breathe through his mother's tight hug, "I still have my life and you can't tell me what to do." Now it was Molly's turn to nod.

"Now tell me all about your life. Do you have a girlfriend? Are you healthy? How's the business?" Molly started.


End file.
